Chemo, Coffee, and Calculus

There’s no way Tate’s Calculus professor could know how hard he works to keep up. Tate had three appointments last week, but he never lets that get in the way of getting his work done. If anything, going back to school – even during this time of strange virtual classrooms – has improved his quality of life. Tate may disagree that a heavy college workload could be good for anyone, but Greg and I have seen an upturn in his mood both semesters. Having something to do – something he can do – has been so good for him.

Tate’s Wednesday appointment was kind of a mixed bag. His numbers and weight are good, but the abdominal pain has returned and his knee isn’t getting better. We’re following up on both of those things. The stomach pain came on fast; he woke up with it Tuesday morning with no warning it was coming. He felt nauseous all day and took his online classes sitting on the floor in the bathroom in case he needed to throw up. It was such a sad thing to see. And also inspiring. Tate’s resolve to be strong when giving up would be perfectly understandable amazes me.

They gave Tate Pepcid through his port, and he said he started feeling better almost right away. We have also doubled his acid-blocker medication at home, which really helped the last time he struggled with abdominal pain. This is where the bureaucracy of fighting cancer is extremely frustrating. Tate had to get a new prescription to accommodate the double dose, and insurance has to approve it. When Greg went to the pharmacy to pick it up, there was a delay because it had to get approved again or never got approved in the first place. At this point in Tate’s treatment we’re used to this kind of thing happening, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay. It just means we’re used to it.

Tate’s knee is a whole other thing. He had an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor Friday morning, and we agreed she was really cool. I think she treats a lot of sports injuries, and Tate seems to be a unique patient for her. Tate got X-Rays that show some Osteopenia but not much else, so they ordered an MRI for him as well. (The MRI was appointment number 3.) The MRI shows something at the top part of his tibia that needs to be investigated further. We’re trying to arrange a time to have his blood drawn so they can run more tests this week. This morning when I told Tate we needed to go to the clinic so they could draw some blood, he said, “NOT TODAY” and hobbled off. I had to smile and concede. He just finished his 5-day steroid pulse last night, and he’s still a little edgy. A year ago a response like that would have really concerned me, but today I can see how he is doing his utmost to contain the wild emotions brought on by the steroids, and that was the politest response he could muster.

We want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Stay safe and enjoy your day and each other. It will be a quiet one at our house; Greg is cooking and I am eating. (I like that arrangement.)